Many Christians today are very eager to forgive (or at least have the outward appearance of forgiveness), but to point out error or correct someone is very taboo. But Christ taught us something even more shocking than mere correction: rebuke. Luke 17:3 sums it up very nicely:
Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him.Notice the order of what He says here. First of all, we are dealing with other Christians: "If thy brother..." Second we should not pretend ignorance when a brother sins against us: "trespass against thee..." And does Jesus say that we should just dismiss it when a brother sins (skipping straight to forgiveness)? No! Rather He tells us to "rebuke him..." To rebuke means to criticize or reprove sharply, to reprimand, admonish, castigate, chastise, etc. So there is a biblical basis for such criticism, as well as correction, as long as it is based on the principles revealed in Scripture.
2 Timothy 3:16-17 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: (17) That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.This doesn't mean that we should scream and yell and throw things, but it does give us precedent for godly rebuke and correction for the purpose of building each other up in the faith. And don't forget the last part: and if he repent, forgive him. So the proper order is reproof then forgiveness. And forgiveness is important indeed:
Luke 17:4 And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him.Matthew 18:21-22 Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? (22) Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.
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And when you're rebuffed with JUDGE NOT, what then? ;)
Matthew 7:1 ("Judge not, that ye be not judged.") is probably the most quoted scripture today, even by those who don't believe the Bible is the Word of God. But it is quoted out of context and taken to mean that we should never point out error or correct anyone. But if we just read the Bible, we quickly find out how wrong that is.
Jesus Himself rebuked and corrected people, especially the religious leaders.
Most of the New Testament epistles were written to correct error within the Church.
Jesus told us in John 7:24 to "Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment."
In the context of Matt. 7, we see that Jesus is talking about not judging a brother for something which we ourselves have no problem doing. Speaking of the scribes and Pharisees in Matt. 23:3, Jesus said, "they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers." (Speaking of rebuke, Matthew chapter 23 has some heavy rebuking by Christ Himself.)
This always has to be balanced out. We should never judge someone in a spirit of self-righteousness. We should recognize that (in the words of John Bradford) "there but for the grace of God, go I." And of course we should always use the Bible as our measuring stick.
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